Vague Future
by NightRoseK
Summary: When Light becomes sick, L must look after him, as any good friend would. But when L realises his feelings for Light, things start to change. But could Light feel the same way? Just a classic LxLight story, some YAOI not sure how much yet. DISCONTINUED!
1. The Snowman!

(Ok, so my FIRST fanfiction etc, etc.

…Yeah I know how annoying these things can be from first-timers, so I'll try and keep it quick. I tried to keep the characters…in character, and as most fans would be able to tell, it's set in that wonderfully opportune time of 2 months where L and Light are chained together! As it explains somewhere, it's been ALMOST a month so far. I've almost completely decided that it won't follow the series where L eventually un-cuffs Light, but it will continue…someway or other.

The title is mainly just because I can't think of anything else, and for the moment the future of this story is VERY vague, as even I don't know it… But I think it also fits in with it anyway…or maybe it will…hmmm.

So, sit FORWARD and READ and ENJOY!! – enJOY dammit!! …yeah…uuuh, Voilà!)

_**Vague Future**_

_Chapter One: The Snowman!_

L glanced over to where the youth was still sitting in front of the laptop on the desk, despite the fact that the rest of the investigation team had been dismissed and gone for close to an hour.

He felt slightly guilty; although Light had always been a studious worker, ever since the handcuffs had been attached and he'd been cooped up inside the Investigation Head Quarters, he'd been working to the point of absolute exhaustion every night. It was because of L's unrelenting suspicions of him being Kira that Light was so desperate to capture the 'real' Kira, and prove his own innocence.

Sighing, L got up from his strange position on the chair and slunk toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder, the chain connecting them clinking softly. He'd intended to try to persuade Light to either go to bed or get some food, even watch a movie if it came to it, but when the boy didn't move an inch at the touch, L looked closer.

Light wasn't, in fact, looking at the computer screen, but to the side a little, out the window where the rain was falling to the pavement far below with great force.

L cleared his throat, hand still on the slim shoulder. No answer.

"Yagami-kun?" Still no answer.

He peered round at the young man's handsome face. "What are you doing, Light-kun?"

Finally a response; "Waiting," he said simply.

L blinked. "…for what?" he asked, more curious now.

Light's head suddenly whipped round, his golden eyes wide and feverish.

"The snowman!" he whispered quickly.

L blinked in surprise, close to giggling, if such a thing was possible for him. Light had said it with absolute sincerity and once he had established that it was not a joke, the detective became concerned. He noticed that Light's cheeks were more flushed than usual, and so took his hand from his shoulder and felt his forehead. He was burning up quite badly.

The golden eyes that had been staring intently into L's dark ones suddenly flicked up to the hand on his head, then back to L, now filled with hatred and suspicion.

"What do you think you're doing?" Light snapped.

L opened his mouth to say something, but Light didn't give him a chance.

"Don't touch me, you pervert! Just because I broke up with my girlfriend, d-doesn't mean you can take advantage of me in my – condition!" Light practically yelled, panting a little, and glaring at the dark-haired man before him. L removed his hand, slightly surprised, though of course it didn't show.

Despite the bad condition Light was obviously in, L couldn't help but ask, a little hopefully;

"Yagami-kun broke up with Amane-san?" L had been wondering what Light had said to make the blonde cry so miserably earlier. He had of course guessed correctly.

Light tilted his head to the side, eyebrows furrowed.

"What? Are you feelin' OK, Ryuzaki?" His words were slightly slurred.

L sighed, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and flipping it open, pressed the number 1 button. He held it up to his ear, between thumb and forefinger, and promptly began speaking into the microphone.

"Watari, please call for the doctor. Yagami-kun is unwell."

"Yes," came the reply on the other end of the line.

L snapped the phone shut and brought his attention back to the golden-haired youth, who was back to gazing out the window, with a blank look on his face. L sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few minutes. He was increasingly tired from all the work and the odd happenings, which was itself strange; he was almost never tired…

_Maybe I just need some sugar,_ he thought. He left the boy to his idle staring and walked as far away as the chain would allow, calling Watari to bring him cake, and lots of it. Some sweets too. And maybe some chocolate, just for good measure.

Ѳ

"He has a mild fever, that's all. But he will need to stay in bed for at least a week, and take 10mls of the medicine every four hours for the duration of the fever. If, after a week, he doesn't seem to be getting much better, give me a call and I'll come right over." The doctor stood up from the chair beside the bed and extended his hand towards L.

"Yes, of course. Thankyou, doctor," he said, shaking hands.

"You're very welcome, Mr Ryuga," the doctor nodded and followed Watari out of the room.

_What a strange man,_ the doctor thought to himself as he was leaving. _As if his physical appearance isn't enough, he's hand-cuffed to a teenager who could be a super-model, and has an elderly butler. And considering the grandeur of the building, he must be fairly rich and important. I wonder who he is…_

Curiously, L was thinking along similar lines. _What a strange man_, he thought. _He didn't look at the hand-cuffs or chain for more than two seconds, and didn't comment on anything else as most do. I wonder who he is…Perhaps he knows Watari._

He was perched on a chair in his usual odd position, beside the double bed he and Light were sharing, and whilst musing, he watched the boy's sleeping face, peacefully calm now, and the rise and fall of his chest under the sheets.

L felt a strange and unfamiliar tenderness towards the younger man as he surveyed him. He figured it must simply be pity or concern. But still…

He had never really seen Light so…defenceless. He had all his barriers down while he slept now. L had watched Light sleep before, of course – they had been sharing a bed for close to a month now. And there was also, not so very long ago, the time when Light had been held in a room and watched constantly.

L now remembered that, at the time, every now and then he would look at Light and feel something quite similar. _Well_, he mused, _both times he was sick in a way, defenceless, so it most certainly is pity, with maybe a smidge of concern. ((LOL, smidge! XD))_

He continued to gaze at Light.

_He really is quite beautiful_, he thought, before he could stop himself. _Wait, what am I thinking?!_

L had never _really_ been attracted to anyone, though, he supposed, if he were to 'like' _anyone_, it would probably be someone like Light;

Good-looking but not really image-obsessed, ingeniously intelligent – almost to the same level as himself – kind and loyal to those he loved, with a good sense of humour but not a comedian who made bad jokes and laughed at everything, seemed to have a good sense of justice, and had rather similar opinions and ideas about things as himself.

But most of all, because he understood L.

Even in all his odd habits, Light could almost always dig out the incentive behind it.

L's eyes had been focused on his quietly breathing chest, but as his eyes moved up to the boy's head, past the perfect mouth and nose, he found honey-coloured eyes gazing curiously back at him.

For a long time they just stared at each other, hardly blinking, big golden-brown eyes looking deep into endless steel grey ones. L could feel something passing between them, a wordless message, sending mutual…'like', for want of a better word. And it was coming from those beautiful eyes.

(A/N: OK, I admit that part with the thoughts was weird and incredibly unnecessary, but I like using the word curiously so… I decided to keep it! Yes. _ Or not…Oh, and I also wanted to have a stranger's thoughts on L, and that's what came out of my head. Um, and yeah I know that's probably not even half as deeply as L would think, but I'm not good at getting out what I want to…Like that…

OK, so there we have _le chapitre un_ – chapter one – and personally, I think it went fairly well! …if I do say so myself. ^w^

Um, yeah I dunno if it's kind of slow? Or boring probably…but it WILL get better. I hope.

Anyway, I think that'll do. OH! And review/whatever else you do…sorry, I just had to put that in…I know it's evil, but…but- everyone does it!! OK?!

Yeah, well bye then my pretties! ^w^)


	2. Realisations

{Firstly, THANKYOU to EVERYONE who reviewed/alerted, your critique and support are MUCH appreciated!! [especially the hint from call-me-H. about Light not being too perfect. I hope that comes out in this chapter. Thanks ;D] I will try to answer most reviews and update as fast as I can, but I can't really make any promises cause of school and other commitments, etc, blah blah blah, more excuses…

Well anyway, here's the next one. Sorry for the delay... Um, some of it might be a little too in depth, but L's super smart, so I figured it suited. ;) Sorry if it's boring…  
…People say that I say sorry too much…sorry… XD}

**Disclaimer: **Nope; still don't own Death Note. I DO own a copy of the first manga though AND a mobile phone decoration thingy with Ryuk holding an apple and looking cute on it. XD YAAAYS!

_Chapter Two: Realisations_

They were staring into each other's eyes, simply staring. And yet there was nothing simple about what was passing between them.

They probably could have gone on that way forever if they'd wanted, but Light found he was still incredibly tired, not really thinking straight, and soon his eyes were slowly drooping closed. The last thing he saw was L's pale face, surrounded by dark dishevelled hair, with the big silvery eyes gazing back at him.

Ѳ

That night passed slowly for L, glancing at Light constantly, worried because the boy wasn't waking. But it also seemed longer than usual because he had had a sudden realisation – _I think they call it an epiphany._

He loved Light Yagami. It was that simple, yet it was so complicated! He was, and had been for some time, convinced that he was Kira, and he hated himself for letting his feelings get to him, for letting them even exist in the first place.

But even L knew that feelings such as these could not be changed. Love was, more often than not, annoyingly inconvenient, completely blinding, and absolutely unchangeable.  
Every time he looked at the young man, he got these horribly wonderful butterflies in his stomach and a small smile came to his lips, uninvited and unwanted. It made him want to move closer, but he had learnt many, many years ago how to control himself in situations where his emotions would rule him.

The fact that Light was another man, and loving him must mean he's gay, never really crossed the detective's mind. He had always just thought of people as they were; just people. There was no real distinction between men and women, and he had, at certain times, felt something for people of each gender. He found that it did not matter at all, but he thought that Light would feel differently…

At this point, L could not concentrate on working on the case. So, to waste time, but also be at least a little productive, he looked up 'Forbidden Love' on google.

For that's what it was; Light was his _prime suspect_, a man uninterested in him and…L sighed heavily, not letting himself finish his thought, and worked his way through the links found.  
There were entries of books with the title, psychology articles, videos, blogs, and of course, a whole heap of crap on Romeo and Juliet. L had read the play many a year ago, and he had found the storyline to be pretty good, but the characters incredibly infuriating, and yet– somehow captivating. He realised this was, in fact, an apt description of Light.

The boy was constantly arguing with him, generally over the most stupid little things, and quite obviously thought him strange and irritating, finding the need to tell L constantly, and yet… There was no denying that he didn't really mind Light's light-hearted teasing, ((pardon the pun…)) and even _enjoyed_ the arguments. They were entertaining, and both of them knew that they were never really meant to harm, a smile in their eyes as they casually fought. It was during these times most of all that L felt close to the younger man, connected somehow.

He spent the rest of the night looking at various sites describing love and other related topics, whilst also thinking about ways to carefully bring up the subject of his feelings with Light, to no avail, and of course eating cake. Strawberry cheesecake.  
{Yum! ^w^}

Ѳ

It was several hours later when Light finally woke up. He turned to the side, only to find L in the same position as before, watching him still. The only differences were the golden rays of sunlight streaming in through the window, indicating it was now early morning, and piece of strawberry cheesecake he was now nursing, taking small bites and chewing slowly. The detective's eyes were wide as he looked intently at the young man's face, the dark circles beneath his eyes accentuated greatly.

Light could feel the heat rising to his cheeks rather uncharacteristically, and with great effort he looked away from the pale face, with its maddeningly beautiful and hypnotic eyes.  
He looked at the wall on the other side of the room and awkwardly cleared his throat. Now that he had escaped those eyes, he really took notice of the situation.  
_Why am I in bed? And why is L…Ryuzaki, sitting in a chair beside me, seemingly watching me sleep?_ The way he was looking at him was really…odd. What was weirder though, was that Light couldn't remember anything from the past ten hours or so; not since he'd gone to break up with Misa early that afternoon.

It was one of those rare occasions that the detective had let him go on his own, though only after pleading with him, knowing that he should at least give Misa privacy; she wouldn't want to be dumped in front of 5 other people, most of whom would be glad to see her go. Besides, it would only have been embarrassingly awkward for his co-workers if they'd been present.

No, whilst Light didn't have any feelings of love towards the blonde girl, he wasn't a monster, and didn't think she should suffer any more than necessary.  
L had of course been watching on camera, but Light was getting used to having no privacy and constantly being observed by the dark-haired detective.

Though never like this before…

"Umm…what's going on Ryuzaki?" He asked, slowly looking back at him, but not meeting his eyes.

L tilted his head to the side a little, looking at Light's face closely.  
"Yagami-kun doesn't remember what has happened," he stated, a little surprised.

"No…?" He was getting a little annoyed.

"Yagami-kun wa–"

"Light," the boy interrupted. L stared.

"You can call me Light. I'm a little sick of formalities, to tell you the truth. Besides, we're friends, right?" _As much as a detective and his suspect can be_, both thought.

L gave a small smile and nodded, then continued.  
"Light-kun was acting strangely and talking about snowmen…amongst other things…and he was burning up. So, I called for the doctor, and he said Light-kun has a mild fever and should stay in bed for at least a week, taking medication every 4 hours. And I wanted to make sure you stayed in bed to rest, and didn't wake up confused or scared." L answered his unasked question.

"Oh." Light felt a _little_ ashamed for thinking L was being weird and creepy, when really he had probably just been worried or something. But L didn't feel such emotions…did he?  
Now that he thought about it, he was a little warm, though somehow cold at the same time. He gave a soft moan of pain and put his hand to his head. He had a splitting head-ache.

A look of concern was instantly on L's face, and he actually leant forward.  
"Is Light okay? Does he need anything?"  
Light immediately noticed that L had dropped the honorific and this, combined with the worry evident in his eyes and posture, struck him as odd. L never usually showed _any_ emotion, least of all something such as concern, which showed that he cared. _Weird. Yet…strangely comforting._

"No, I'm fine. It's just a head-ache…Actually, some Panadol would be good." Light said, but not before giving L a strange look, eyeing him questioningly.  
L nodded, but made no move to stand, instead putting the now-empty plate on the bedside table and reaching into his pocket for his phone. He proceeded to call Watari to bring the panadol, as well as some 'food' for himself. Light rolled his eyes when L wasn't looking.

Ѳ

L put his phone away and looked back to Light, and found that he was looking back.  
"Watari's not your slave, you know. Why don't you just go get those things yourself?" Light asked with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"Well, for one, Watari doesn't mind doing things for me – it's his job, really. And secondly, in the current situation I couldn't anyway." L replied, holding up his hand-cuffed hand, his voice back to its usual monotonous tone, no traces of concern left.  
Light stared at the cuff and chain, following it down to his own wrist, also cuffed.  
"Right. Of course. I'd almost forgotten."

L blinked.  
"I would think it would be hard for me to forget I was hand-cuffed to someone. Especially someone like you…" L mumbled this quietly, his eyes drifting away from Light. In the hours that the young man had been asleep, L had come to the clear conclusion that he loved Light. Yet he was just as certain that Light did not return his feelings, or anything close to them; he found L annoying beyond belief, and just downright weird. So, he had decided not to act on his feelings. However, he couldn't hide _everything_, and that last part had slipped out accidentally.

Light quickly picked up on what L had said.  
"What do you mean, someone like me?" he said with a frown.

"…Huh? Oh, nothing." L said, slowly looking at Light's face.  
The was a hint of annoyance in the boy's eyes as he opened his mouth to continue questioning L, obviously not satisfied with the vague response.

But there was a knock on the door and L turned gratefully towards his saviour.  
"Yes."  
Watari then came in, bearing a tray with a glass of water, a box of panadol, a slice of pavlova, and a large assortment of chocolate truffled.  
Light saw L's eyes widen in anticipation, and rolled his eyes again. _Pavlova. Of course,_ he thought, _Almost pure sugar, aside from the fruit on top. Not that it makes much difference._

Watari placed the tray on the bedside table and grabbed the empty plate. He then passed the glass and Panadol to Light with a kind, understanding smile.  
"Would you like anything else Yagami-kun?"

"No, thankyou," Light said, smiling back with a genuinely warm smile.

"Very well. But you should eat something soon. How about I bring some toast in half an hour's time?"

"Sounds good. Thank you, Watari."

"My pleasure." He nodded and left the room, but exchanging a look with L first. Light couldn't figure out the meaning behind the look, but decided that maybe it wasn't really any of his business, and didn't comment, instead storing it away for future reference and analysis.

"Watari is right, Light-kun. You really should eat something. Would you like a truffle?" L asked, offering the plate to Light, though not really expecting him to take any.

"I'm pretty sure he meant food that's good for me. Healthy food, Ryuzaki." Light said doubtfully.

"He said no such thing!" L replied heatedly. "Whenever I get sick, I still have my usual favourites. And I always get better. Now, take a truffle!"

Light stared at L for a moment. "Are there any dark chocolate ones?" he asked dubiously.

L pulled the plate back to himself and examined them closely, eventually picking one out using two fingers and passing it over.  
A smile appeared on his pale face when the boy ate the chocolate. _He barely protested!_

Ѳ

For the next few hours they just talked about the case and made some amusing comments about their co-workers, interrupted only by Watari with food. But soon L noticed that Light kept patting his hair, trying to fix it, with a thoughtful expression on his face. He also looked down constantly, as if to check to see if he was still wearing pants... Or perhaps he was checking to make sure he was still gorgeous. Either way, L was getting curious, and a little worried that something was wrong, seeing as both were quite obviously still true.

"Is there something wrong Ya– Light-kun? He stuttered over Light's name, so used to the formal 'Yagami-kun'.

"What? Oh, no nothing..." Light trailed off, looking away.

"Are you sure? You know I can provide you with anything you want..." L only picked up on the suggestiveness of his comment after he'd said it.

"Uh... yeah. Well, it's just that I haven't had a shower in a while, and I was wondering if... you wouldn't mind taking a break?" He said, slowly looking up at L.

_Oh. I had almost forgotten Light's pedantic manner when it comes to his hygiene and appearance. _L had to try very hard not to roll his eyes. He, of course, succeeded.  
"Of course, Light-kun. Anything you want."

"Right… How about un-cuffing me so I can shower in peace?" Light asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not. Out of the question."

"But you just said–!"

"I must observe you at all times, to make sure you aren't doing anything remotely suspicious." L said in a monotone.

Light sighed dramatically. "Fine. You'll just have to come with me then." He said, throwing the heavy blankets off and dragging himself out of bed.  
L blushed and followed him slowly to the bathroom.

Ѳ

L removed the hand-cuffs and Light started to undress, but looked up, noticing the blush still on L's cheeks as he looked down.  
He smirked. "You right there Ryuzaki?"

L blinked and his eyes flitted up to the young man's face, the amber eyes full of amusement and slight scorn. "Yes, of course."

"Then why are you blushing?" Light had an evil-looking smile on his face as he continued to undress.

"...No reason. You just..." L mumbled, the blush becoming darker still.

"I what?" Light asked, thoroughly enjoying himself as he watched L visibly squirm in discomfort.

"Nothing," he said louder, looking away again.

"Aw, come on, Ryuzaki! Just tell me what you were gonna say." Light had a pleading look on his face.

L looked up and nearly let spill then and there as his heart thumped wildly, but just managed to stutter out a reply. "N-no. It was nothing, really."

"Come on! Just tell me!" Light got into the shower and turned the water on, facing away from the detective.

"No," L said with more force.

"Tell me!"

"No more talking whilst you are in the shower, Light-kun. It is not the best place for a conversation. And I would prefer face to face anyway, so I could see your emotions." L droned, back in complete control of his voice now. He was sitting on a stool just beside the shower door, and saw Light's shoulders slump in annoyance, water droplets making their way slowly down his smooth back.

"Fine. I'll just have to continue interrogating you when I get _out_ of the shower, then!" Light's voice was full of frustration.

"I do not believe that Light-kun has the authority to interrogate me. If anything, I would be interrogating you."

"Whatever Ryuzaki." Light's voice was harsh and had a sense of finality to it.

A slightly evil glint came into L's eyes. _Payback time...  
_"That lowers your percentage of being Kira by 3%."

"What does?!" Light spun around in surprise, eyes wide, before realising he was naked and quickly turning back around in embarrassment.

L was temporarily distracted by the sight of Light. "……Well, Kira would never give up so easily."

Light glared at L over his shoulder. "I'm not giving up! I said I'd get it out of you later, and I will!"

L just laughed softly, breathlessly and continued watching him.

As he did so, he felt something like a heat, rushing through his veins, riding on his blood, making him want to take that small step forward, to reach out and touch – _NO!  
I can't, dammit. It's rude, an invasion of his personal space. And he wouldn't like it..._ He thought in despair.

But the feeling was rather persistent and, cautiously, L stood and took a step toward the open shower door. He took one last look at the smooth, ever-so-slightly tanned skin of the younger man's back before him, before lowering his eyes to...

his feet.

He softly cleared his throat. "Light-kun?" he started.

"Hm?" Light half-turned his head to face L, a curious look taking over his attractive features. His voice, however, sounded distant, as if his mind had been elsewhere. "Yes Ryuzaki?" His golden eyes were softer now, like honey, almost as if he'd just woken from a good dream.

"Er...would Light-kun mind if I joined him in there?" L mumbled.  
Light's eyes were slightly wider when L looked up, but he was fairly calm for the most part.

Ѳ

Light was a little unsure of what to say, whether to accept or not.  
_Why does he want to come into the shower? _He wondered. _Maybe he feels dirty too…_ Light barely finished the thought before he realised what it sounded like. Lucky he hadn't said it out loud.

"Uh, sure. Why not?"

L turned around.  
Light watched as the detective began to remove his shirt, saw the smooth pale skin of his back. He was entranced, but he couldn't explain to himself why. L had his shirt just above his head, when he suddenly turned to look behind and caught Light staring at him. Their eyes locked, dark silvery ones on light golden ones, and Light Yagami felt something he'd never felt with such intensity before.  
He suddenly realised what it was.

Lust.

He quickly turned around, a blush rising to his cheeks uncharacteristically for the second time that day. The water around him was all but forgotten, as if it were not there at all.  
He couldn't hear anything behind him, and wondered what L was doing, but a few moments later there was the familiar rustle of clothing coming off, and falling to the floor.  
Light pondered what had just happened as he waited;  
_  
WTF?!?!?! W-what was that…that feeling for? Th-that LUST?! _He had wanted so much to reach out and touch – _NO!_

Light shut his eyes and shook his head slightly, trying to clear it of all unwanted thoughts.  
He tensed as he heard L step into the large shower behind him, and his breath caught in his throat. He could _feel_ the heat of L's body, and wanted so badly to turn around. But he knew it would be considered rude, and most definitely weird.

_Though considering this is Ryuzaki, the standards of weird are bound to be lower than normal._

Light smiled at that and slowly relaxed, concentrating on the warm water rushing over him. He felt a little weak, but figured it was just an effect of the fever, nothing to be particularly worried about.

He washed his hair with the special shampoo and conditioner he ordered online from Paris, and thoroughly scrubbed his body with special body wash from Switzerland. He peeked over his shoulder at L, and smirked when he saw him examining the shampoo bottle, holding it as if it were contaminated.

"If you put that in your hair, then rinse it off, it might _actually_ look decent for once. Clean even."

L looked back in surprise, which quickly turned to contempt.  
"I know what it does. And as for your insolent comments, you are wrong. My hair _is_ clean, contrary to popular belief." He was back to the monotonous voice again.

"Really? And what about it's decency?" Light asked, still smirking over his shoulder, body turned slightly toward the other man.

L glared at him, turning a little more too.  
"It _is _clean. Here." He turned around fully, and grabbed Light's hand, pulling it up to his hair, then let go. Light breath caught, rather audibly.

Light slowly and tentatively pulled his fingers through the surprisingly smooth dark hair, wet though it was. It was wonderful, and he didn't want to let go, but the detective's eyes were on him, and he felt incredibly uncomfortable. Understandably.

Light blushed and turned back to his own yellowy-tiled wall.  
{For some reason I always picture the bathroom to be a yellow-orange/peach-cream colour with yellowish lighting… Just in case you wanted to know. XD}

Suddenly, he was weak in the knees, his vision becoming blurred, and he reached out to grab onto something, anything he could. But there was nothing on the wall, and he slowly slid down the wall with a low moan.

Ѳ

L was a little annoyed about the boy's comments, but he knew it was all in good humour, just another of their meaningless, entertaining arguments.  
He was now more interested in the blush appearing on Light's cheeks as he had felt his hair.

_Why would he blush at that? Unless–_

He abruptly heard strange sounds behind him, slight squeaking, and a soft groan.  
He spun around and saw Light falling, and with a cry of "Light!", caught him _just_ before he hit the floor, hands around his slim waist and back.

The boy was barely conscious, his eyes almost closed, face pale and wet from the water still falling around them. L reached up and turned the taps off before carefully lifting Light up, and carrying him bridal-style out of the shower. He gently placed him on the mat and grabbed their towels, quickly drying himself, before attempting to help Light do the same. He didn't bother with their hair; it didn't seem important in the situation at hand, the number 1 priority to get Light back to bed to recover.

When that was finally done, he reached for their clothes, first sliding into his dark jeans. Then he helped Light into his own, trying _so_ hard not to look at Light's more intimate body parts as he did so. The going was slow and difficult, but eventually, with almost no help on Light's part, they were on. L picked him up again, and carried him out to the bedroom, setting him down gently on the mattress, then pulling his hand out from under him, hands lingering on the boy's hips.

L looked up to his face, and saw that he was already asleep. Warily, he moved his hands up to the boy's chest, fingers gliding softly across the smooth surface. He wanted to move closer, but… _Wait._

_Is he really asleep?_ L wondered, and took a closer look at Light. _Yup. _

L couldn't help it. He just _had_ to.  
He moved onto the bed, closer to Light and gently laid his head against his chest, feeling his warmth and the rhythm of his breathing, calming him down a bit. He could hear his heart, beating evenly. The raven-haired man let his fingers move across the boy's lovely skin, stroking softly. He slowly, cautiously turned his head to press his lips tenderly against the young man's smooth chest, then laid back down with a sigh of contentment, closing his eyes.

The young detective wished he could stay like that forever, but Light would eventually wake up and if L was still lying there, he'd…

_But what WOULD he do? _L wondered. The _genius _wasn't sure, but he decided he didn't really want to know; he knew it wouldn't be anything good.

Instead of staying there, he opted for retrieving the handcuffs from the bathroom and chaining them together again, snapping the cuff quietly around the boy's wrist.  
L wanted to be near him, but not enough to scare him; something discrete.

And so, L, Ryuzaki, Ryuga, whichever name takes your fancy, slipped into the other side of the bed, pulling the blankets up over his shoulders, curling up into the fetal position.  
He brought a thumb to his lip and gazed lovingly at the son of the Chief of the NPA.

Light hadn't been able to carry out his normal routine of styling his hair exactly, to perfection, and then carefully picking out his clothes so he had a perfectly matched outfit, and therefore, the boy was more dishevelled than usual. But L liked it. Very much so.

He could feel the heat of Light's body just inches away, tantalisingly warm, and had to try oh-so-hard to keep his hands in check, keep them to himself. In the end, he stretched himself out to a relatively normal position, wriggled closer by barely two inches, and just let one of his hands _casually_, faux naturally, brush against Light's hand.

Anything to be closer to his dear Light...

{A/N: So Light _did_ break up with Misa!! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!1!! So, now she's out of the way and–––

"WAIT!"

…Who said that? .

"Me! Or you I suppose – I am your subconscious!"

Oh…ok then. Good to see you again, Subby… But, um, not meaning to be rude or anything, but… why are you here exactly?

"BECAUSE! Misa isn't really out of the way!!"

…Uh, you sure now? Because, as far as I'm aware she is. And what I say goes. – Ooh, I like the sound of that!

"Uh… yeah, well anyway, it's just that, knowing Misa as we _pretend _we do, she wouldn't give up that easily without a fight – excuse the cliché – and so it stands to reason that she will come back. Plus, I can see the future..!"

Uum, sure you can.

*Subconscious leaves in annoyance*

ANYway.

LOL I almost forgot to write Panadol with a capital P…! GASP! :O hehe  
Uh, yeah, don't ask me why I decided that Light would get shampoo from Paris, and weirder still, body wash from _Switzerland_… I actually have no idea why. =]  
Oh yeah, and I like Watari and I think he's a really nice old guy and he notices more than people give him credit for, so I figured I'd put him in a bit more than others do. Maybe. I'll probably forget to cause I'll be so caught up with L and Light… XD

Ah well.

OK, this is WAY too long already, so I'll just say BYE and THANKYOU to everyone reading this!! That was le chapitre deux!! ^w^ --- [Thankyou to UcHiHaHyUuGa for keeping with the French theme! ;P ]

ANY comments, good or bad, are welcome!

- NightRoseK }

[PS: REALLY sorry bout this, but for those speedy people who read practically as soon as I posted, there MAY have been some changes made to this chapter. Most are minor and can be skipped, but I added more to the end. Shouldn't affect anyone, but just thought I'd mention it in case someone was confused or something...]


	3. What the L!

{Hello again everyone! OK, firstly, I'm REALLY REALLY sorry for such a huge delay. My excuse is that I had exams for two weeks, then I wrote maybe half a page and got completely stuck due to writer's block! Lame. But then my sister and I were at our seven-year-old sister's birthday party at McDonalds (I'm lovin' it!) and it came to me! So then my sis put in a bit and we came up with the next part. So, basically, all that means… I'M BAAAAAAACK! XD

'Kay, I would like to say a special thanks to Kisatine – probably my most loyal reviewer! We have rather awesome conversations, do we not? ;D

– and Donatellolover – you truly are a wonderful supporter, and I really enjoy talking to you! :]

– and People Order Our Patties – I like your funny little comments, and hope there'll be many more to come! ;)

– and call-me-H. – You've been with me from the start, and I look forward to talking more! :D

– and ALSO NavyBlueDreamsandKhakithoughts – your comments made me smile/laugh! Which they _do_ say is the best medicine! Wonder if it works on horrible colds/flu thingies…? ;]

And so, without further ado, here's chapitre trois. ^w^

ENJOY! Et, voilà!}

**Disclaimer: **Not sure if I _really_ need a disclaimer, but I figured I should put one in anyway. Just to be safe. So here goes…

Drum-roll please!.............................

I DON'T own Death Note!! O. M. G. can you believe it?! :O

*sigh*

_Chapter Three: What the L?!_

Light felt dazed as he slowly opened his eyes, his limbs heavy, and a thin layer of sweat still on his forehead. He was lying on his back and as he turned his head to the right, he saw L, asleep for once, on his side with legs out-stretched. He had one thumb pressed to his bottom lip, his other hand gently resting on the palm of Light's right.

He looked so peaceful, happy even.

OK, so maybe not happy, exactly, but definitely content.

The room was dark, and the clock on L's side of the bed read 3:23am.

Light looked down at the detective again, now focusing on their hands… He had a strange urge to hold that pale hand in his own. An experiment of sorts. So, he rolled onto his side to face him, and gently closed his fingers around L's, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't wake any time soon.

Seemed as if the gods were out to get him, because barely a minute later, he did just that.

Ѳ

L, of course, went straight into creepy staring mode, watching as Light's eyes widened in what seemed to be a mixture of fear and guilt, then quickly became impassive. This would not have been _particularly_ suspicious had he not been holding L's hand.

Looking away, Light sat up, pulling his hand away. He clenched his jaw.

L sat up too and faced the younger man, not letting him get out of explaining quite so easily.

"Does Light-kun always hold my hand when I sleep?" He made his voice as innocent as possible, but couldn't quite keep the evil glint out of his eyes.

Light spun round to face him, stuttering. "What– no! I– you were… I mean…" Light huffed in annoyance at his own incoherency.

"I know exactly what Light-kun means." L smiled and winked suggestively at the boy, receiving the best possible reaction anyone could wish for;

Light gaped, stared and blushed, all at once, the latter growing more pronounced as L chuckled at his expression.

Light turned away again in embarrassment and frustration.

"Whatever Ryuzaki."

These words reminded both of an earlier conversation ending in the same annoyed phrase, and Light, of course, immediately went on the attack, as L had previously. He smiled and turned back to face the detective.

"So, _L_, you never did tell me; what _was_ the reason for your blushing earlier?"

There was a pause, as L turned to face the other way, the red glow of the digital clock the only light shed on his face, the rest cast in dark shadows.

"So Light-kun is indeed a man of his word…I shall have to remember that." L stood now and began making his way out of the room, dragging Light along for the ride.

"Wait– Ryuzaki! Where are we going?! It's not even 4 am yet! We should _both_ still be asleep!" Light grudgingly dragged himself after the older man, down a hall to a flight of stairs, before he answered, turning to face the younger man.

"I need cake," was his simple answer.

"What?! You need cake at 4 in the morning? Why?!" Light whisper-screamed in the detective's ear.

"Because cake fixes everything." L just looked at him simply, giving the boy another frustratingly simple answer.

Light was becoming decidedly annoyed with the insomniac, but he was just too tired to really do anything about it.

He sighed and they continued to the kitchen in silence. And anticipation… on L's part anyway.

Ѳ

Was that music?

Light walked slowly down a dark hall, bathed in pale, calm blue light. There was definitely music coming from a room at the end, and so he made his way carefully towards it. He poked his head around the door-less door frame, but was unprepared for what he saw. And more importantly heard.

There was L, crouched in his normal position on a hardwood floor in an empty white room, also lit with pale blue. Aside from the genius, the only thing in the room was a rather large white cake, iced to perfection and decorated with delicious strawberries.

And it was singing.

To L.

"Pleee-ease don't eat me. Duh duh duh duh duh. Pleee-ease don't eat me. Duh duh duh duh duh."

Light immediately recognised the tune as Pink's song 'Please don't leave me'. Huh, clever.

As the last 'duh' was sung, he was about to take a step into the room. But he stopped when L stood up and leant to pick up the cake, instead watching to see what would happen. L held it up to his face and whispered one fateful sentence. The last the cake would ever hear.

"If I can't eat you, then no-one can!" And with that he threw the master-piece to the floor with a speed only possible in dreams.

Then the strangest thing happened… Or was it strange? Once again, he was talking about L here.

Either way, L blinked once, twice, staring down at the creamy mess on the wooden floor, then slowly crumpled down, with his legs folded beneath him. He stared for a moment longer, then a sob escaped his pale lips, and he was suddenly crying shamelessly into his hands. Abruptly, L turned his head and looked Light straight in the eye. His face was distraught, tears streaming down his cheeks as he said, "I killed him, Light, I killed him!"

For reasons unknown to him, Light's stomach wrenched painfully, telling him to go to the man. Within seconds, he was down on his knees as well, and he reached forward to put his arms gently round the depressed detective before him.

He soon felt arms wrap warmly around his shoulders in response, clutching his shirt tightly, almost in desperation. Light's reaction to this was strange even to himself; he held the dark-haired man back, filled with a feeling he'd never before felt, a kind of anguish, a want never to let go. He sighed into L's shoulder, oddly content, as if he could stay that way forever.

With a deep breath and a deep pain, he pulled back, his chest feeling tight, but warm next to the older man's. Light abruptly found himself staring straight into the depths of L's wide, dark eyes. He could actually see emotion buried deep inside, despite his theories that the great detective L did not feel anything, or at the least, didn't allow himself to show it.

Light felt something in his chest, almost an ache, as he stared, very much like the first time, when they had looked into each other's eyes, some unknown sensation passing between them. Only this time, they were much closer and the feeling was much more like electricity, sharp and forceful.

In a flash, L's lips were suddenly on his, soft but eager, and Light quickly moved his lips in response. L's hand slid gently up into Light's silky hair, sending a shiver down the boy's spine. He felt kind of vulnerable, in the arms of the great detective, but also safe and most definitely happy. The kiss deepened, became more powerful, until Light pulled out slightly, eyes opening slowly, to look at L. In the dim blue light, he was beautiful. Truly magnificent, amazing, and a hundred other related words that wouldn't come to Light in those moments, stunned as he was.

He brought a hand up to stroke the side of his face, watching as L fell into his touch, his pale skin gleaming softly, and his unruly hair shimmering like the night.

"Light…" L whispered lovingly, making the boy melt.

He leant in to kiss again those beautiful, soft, pale lips inches from his own. As they continued, L gradually pushed Light gently to the floor, lying on top of him, chest to chest.

They pulled back again, their eyes meeting, showing their love, their lust, their want, and so much more. They were back together in a matter of moments, lips moving against each other, with more and more passion each passing second, their hands exploring over skin, shirts sliding off. L let his lips glide all over Light; his stomach, his chest, then moving up to his neck, and jaw line, placing chaste little kisses everywhere, making the boy moan quietly.

"I love you, Light," L whispered into his ear, his breath hot. A small smile came across Light's lips, and he opened his mouth to reply.

"I love–"

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!"

Light groggily opened his eyes, squinting in the bright that greeted him. His ears were in excruciating pain from the loud almost-screech that had woken him. He felt the icy cold of the marble bench against his cheek, and slowly pushed himself up, looking around to pinpoint the source of his agony.

Misa.

Of course it had been the infuriating blonde screaming his name, as was her habit. He had grown fairly used to it over the months they had been together. But…wait, hadn't he broken up with her not long ago?

"Misa? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see my Light, of course!" she giggled. "You're so cute when you just wake up! So silly!"

Light grumbled. It was _way_ too early for this crap…whatever the time was.

"Misa, I broke up with you. That means you shouldn't come see me any more. How did you get in, anyway?"

There was a sound from the other end of the bench as somebody cleared their throat, and Light finally noticed L sitting on a stool not far away, his laptop sitting on the bench in front of him as he typed away.

Without looking away from the screen, he said, "I'm sorry, Light-kun. That was my fault." He finally turned to look Light straight in the eye.

"Light-kun did not tell me Misa was no longer welcome."

The younger man blushed unintentionally as L's eyes seemingly pierced to his very soul, and he found he had to look away, reddening further still. He clearly remembered the dream he'd just woken from, the pleasure, the passion… and now the confusion. _Why did I have such an…intimate dream about Ryuzaki and me?!_ He silently wondered. _I mean, I don't…like him, do I? Not like that… It must be something to do with that weird…lust thing in the shower. Yeah, and that was just because…because– I-I've been chained to him for so long now, with nobody else but Misa and the investigation team for company… _He had to fantasize about someone, right? So why not the detective, with his beautiful skin, hair, eyes, mouth…_everything…_ Light had a quick flash of an image he really didn't need at that point in time, involving at least two of these features of L and, inevitably, himself.

As Light went through all this, Misa stared at him, L was thinking as always, and there was long, awkward silence, interrupted, of course, by Misa.

"…No longer welcome? What? Liii-iiight!" the girl wailed, pulling Light abruptly out of his thoughts and fantasies, and becoming increasingly annoying as she continued, moving towards him. Light turned slowly to glare at her, fortunately stopping her in her tracks.

"Light, stop being mean! You didn't _really_ break up with Misa-misa, did you?! Th-that was just a– dream! Or-or a joke! …Right?" Misa looked on the verge of either tears, or laughter. Light couldn't decide which as an air of pure madness came over her. She clutched the bench directly opposite where Light sat, knuckles gradually turning white from the force, her vibrant blue eyes staring into Light's golden ones, wider than he'd ever seen them. Almost as wide as L's… Almost.

"Um, Misa, calm down, please. It wasn't a joke or a dream; I really did break up with you. You need to get used to it, ok? You really should move on. There are plenty of other guys out there that would be better suited to you, and most definitely willing to have you as their own." Light was trying his hardest to be nice, comforting and reassuring. _Don't yell at her, don't yell at her,_ he told himself. _She's entitled to be upset and confused. I mean, I __**did **__dump her. Besides, it's not her fault she came at such a bad time…_

"B-b-but, Liiiiiii-iiiiight! I only want you! B-because I…I love you! YOU!! Light! LIIIIIIIIIGHT!!"

Light grit his teeth in frustration and shut his eyes, breathing deeply to calm down. He heard L's voice trying to help. Finally.

"Amane-san, please calm down. Light-kun has clearly explained that you should not be here. Please allow Watari to escort you out of the building," he said in a monotonous voice, gesturing to the door, where Watari was suddenly waiting.

Misa hung her head for a moment, resigned, then slowly lifted her face to look Light in the eye. A tear slid quietly down her cheek, her eyes full of misery, heart-breakingly so. Light very nearly went back on his word looking at her innocent face, but quickly turned away, just in time. He couldn't allow guilt to cloud his mind.

He had bigger problems now.

{A/N: I just love a confused Light! XD

OK, OK, I know I said Misa would return and be evil, etc, but…I dunno, I find her annoying and I have better ideas now. Maybe she'll return later…Maybe.

And, yes, I know that the title is incredibly lame but…I dunno, I just thought it suited. XD

Also, to all those who were wondering, the snowman WILL be back, I just couldn't fit it into _this_ chapter. The next one will be called "Return of an Old Friend", if you catch my drift.

Anyway, um, the only other things I want to say are:

1. I'm seriously super sorry for the wait. No excuses. Well…expect that I wanted to make this chapter longer, so I kept going for a bit but then changed my mind and thought it better to end it there.

And 2. Thank you to EVERYONE that reviewed and favourited and alerted, and all that jazz. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and…I'll try and get the next one up faster. ;D

NightRoseK -;--- }


	4. Return of an Old Friend

Disclaimer: Don't own Death Note. So sue me. Wait...

{HI!... I feel this chapter's a little weak. Actually, REALLY weak. You see, I've had the worst case of writer's block in the history of…ever. I mean seriously, how long has it been now? Let's just say a heap of months. Yeah, I'm really sorry for that… No excuses really. Though, come to think of it, is it actually possible to have writer's block for a story that doesn't really have any plot? I'd pretty much planned what I was going to do for this chapter, too! Maybe it was just me procrastinating as always… Hm.

Enjoy!}

Warning: Just a reminder, this IS yaoi after all. Just in case you forgot. But nothing too bad in this one. Minor swearing. Think that's it. I'm sure you can all handle it.

_Chapter Four: Return of an Old Friend_

"Would Light-kun like to go see his father and the rest of the investigation team soon? It has been a little while," the dark-haired man inquired, eyeing the brunette curiously, head tilted slightly; he was obviously thinking hard. The boy didn't answer straight away, so L asked another question. "Perhaps once he has finished eating?"

L had noticed the way the boy's face had reddened earlier when he'd looked at him, and had been pondering it ever since, barely taking notice of Misa's removal. He resolved to find out what the boy was thinking.

"Uh, sure, Ryuzaki," Light said quietly, his eyes flicking to L's face for barely a second, then back down to his plate, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

_He's avoiding me, obviously. But, why?_ L wondered. He admitted that it hurt him to have the teen ignoring him, whatever the reason may be. _I haven't done anything to upset him… have I?_

Ѳ

Later, when they were with the investigation team, Light still seemed distracted, continuing to avoid Ryuzaki as much as he possibly could. He was genuinely happy to be seeing his father and everyone else, but he just couldn't shake the feeling of the dream and what it must mean. He felt like he needed to be alone for a while.

Instead, he was bombarded with questions from everyone, asking him how he was feeling, and he got a gruff hug from his father, as expected.

But he was honestly surprised when Mogi gave him a big bear hug, looking down at him in the same way an older brother would.

Soichiro coughed awkwardly, and the rest of the team looked on in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

Just when Light himself was starting to feel uncomfortable, Mogi let go, moving back and looking impassive once again, and not taking any notice of the glances from his co-workers.

There were a few moments of silence, then L hastily ordered them all to work.

The next few hours were pretty uneventful, work going on as usual. Light constantly snuck glances at L out of the corner of his eye, as did L, eyes occasionally meeting, before they quickly parted.

However no one else seemed to notice anything, though there was a distinctive, almost-tangible tension between the two the whole time.

For Light, curiously, the worst part (or perhaps the best) was L's hands. Watching, from the corner of his eye of course, as L sorted through various documents, he couldn't help but notice the way he used his fingers, brushing over the paper almost delicately. He kept having constant flashbacks of his sensual dream, L's hands gliding all over his body, the way he'd moaned in response…

He shuddered and had to actually shake his head to stop the images. That gained him a strange look from L, his gaze intensely focused as always, and it was all he could do not to stare back, to look into that beautiful face beside him.

And thus, they continued in this way.

Two and a half hours in, L couldn't take it any longer and decided he needed cake. Light was acting increasingly stranger, and the way he kept looking at him was making him both paranoid and… dare he think it, hopeful. L may not know everything about social situations, but he felt he could recognise the actions of someone with a 'crush'. He himself had done very much the same thing not so long ago, the only difference being that Light had been asleep at the time, and L had done a _whole lot more_ looking…

The walk to the kitchen seemed a lot longer and…more _torturous_ than usual; while L walked normally, Light stood less than an inch from the wall of the hallway, trying to stay as far from the detective as possible, and walking faster than was really necessary. L sighed deeply.

"Light-kun…"

No answer. The boy simply walked faster, forcing L to speed up and reach the kitchen in record timing.

Once there, L decided cake was more important than anything and headed immediately for the fridge, bending over slightly to reach a delectable-looking tiramisu at the back of one of the bottom shelves.

Light had a feeling of déjà vu, as he sat in the same stool he had that morning, and turned to look at L. He was greeted with an unnerving and utterly _cruel_ sight – at least in his mind.

L had his rear in the air, and his shirt had fallen forwards a little, revealing a small portion of his smooth, pale skin, and the young man had an urge to wrap his arms around that thin waist, and stroke that smooth skin. So, he quickly made himself turn away.

As L pulled out the cake, turning to face Light, the room was dead silent, emphasising the fact that they were once again, utterly alone.

L tried to catch Light's eye, but the teen simply refused to look up, instead inspecting his nails, though there was a definite blush in his cheeks. The dark-haired man sighed and came up behind him, noticing how he tensed up as he neared.

"Light-kun…are you feeling quite well?" L asked, hand on his shoulder. "Do you need to rest some more?"

"I'm fine, just… _please_, get off me." Light stood up stiffly.

L uncertainly removed his hand, unsure how to proceed.

"Shall we return, then?" L started towards the door, dessert in hand, and turned back expectantly to Light.

For a moment, the boy didn't move an inch, but just stared at the tiled floor, arms at his sides, seeming deep in thought. Eventually, with a great sigh, he moved towards the door, keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

His arm brushed L's as he passed through the doorway, causing him to shudder a little in…what exactly was that feeling Light felt when he touched the detective? _Anticipation? _

Light walked to the investigation room as quickly as before, dragging L along with him once more. He sat down at his computer, tense as a bowstring, ignoring L as best he could, more so even than before. He didn't once look at him. Any time the detective tried to talk to him, he simply ignored him, or, alternatively, gave him non-committal grunts or short one word answers, still never looking his way.

At one point, Matsuda came over to Light unexpectedly, bending down to speak quietly to him.

"Are you and Ryuzaki having an argument, Light-kun?"

…_You have __**got**__ to be kidding me! Of all people, Matsuda is the one to notice something is up? What is the world coming to…?_

"No…uh, what makes you say that?" Light asked cautiously.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing, I guess. You just seem to be avoiding him, that's all…" Matsuda said hurriedly.

"Well, that's almost impossible with this chain," he said, holding his hand up for emphasis, the chain clinking at the movement, drawing Ryuzaki's eyes to their conversation. _Like he hadn't already noticed…_

The young detective chuckled awkwardly, pulling away from Light and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Heh, yeah, I guess it is. Never mind me, then," he said, scurrying off, back to his own computer.

Light, shaking his head slightly, quickly immersed himself back into his work, trying his hardest to concentrate fully on the task at hand. He was most certainly _not_ going to think about the mysterious man beside him. Nope. Definitely not.

_I love you, Light…_

It was only then that the very last part of that damn dream came back to him. Huh.

So perhaps it hadn't been just an (almost) sex dream… there was more to it. In fact, his dream self, he now remembered, had also begun to say something towards the end.

_I love– _

Ah. Of course. That was where Misa had so rudely interrupted in her whiney way.

Damn Misa! Didn't she realise he'd been in the middle of something important?

…Important? Hadn't he, not one moment before, decided it was a meaningless (almost) sex dream…? No, it _was_ important. He had always firmly believed that dreams had a significant relation to one's thoughts, often reflecting those which you might otherwise keep locked away, deep down in the depths of your mind…

So, did that mean he had feelings for L? Or, alternatively, did he just have an incredibly strong desire to jump him…?

Under normal circumstances, Light may have simply asked L about his thoughts on the meanings of dreams, but he wasn't really talking to him… And besides, it would just be awkward talking about something of that nature with someone like L. Light was fairly sure the detective wasn't one to do… _intimate_ things. Or that he ever had done in the past. He'd have to ask him some day… But, no, he most certainly couldn't ask him about a dream like that. And considering it had been between the two of them… Things were bad enough as they were. Like he needed anything increasing the tension and awkwardness between them!

What was he going to do? He couldn't just go on ignoring the man like this. He was handcuffed to him, for crying out loud! OK, so, eventually he'd be unchained, but who knew how long it would be till that day? Geez, he was stiff and sore from just one day of this ignoring business… not even that yet! He simply would not be able to keep it up long enough to make it till he could be truly alone.

All these thoughts swirling around his head were making his head hurt. He'd never really had to consider his feelings for anybody before; they'd always been clear. And besides…he'd never felt anything much for anybody before. Certainly never enough to wonder whether he…_loved_ them.

_Love…_

It was at that exact moment, when he began considering _love_, that Light began to feel light-headed and weak. _Oh no_, he thought. _Here we go again…_

He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples, placing his feet slightly apart, and firmly on the ground. At least this time he had a chair…no insomniac detectives having to gallantly catch him in this case. Well, there was still time, he supposed.

And so, he decided to break his 'oath of silence' and just ask the man for help.

"Ryuzaki."

"Hm…? Yes, Light-kun?" L turned in his chair to face the younger man, face as blank as ever. Inside he was joyfully rejoicing at having the teen speak to him again. "Are you quite alright? You look unwell again."

"I…I'm feeling light-headed again. Could we perhaps go back to our room so I can rest?" He said this rather quietly, as if speaking any louder would snap him in two. He also carefully avoided the phrase "can we go back to bed?"…_Their _bed.

"Of course, Light-kun. Did you want any medication at all?" L asked, obviously concerned again.

"Uh, yes. Some Panadol again?"

L nodded then called Watari over, asking him to get him some Panadol for the boy and bring it up to their room.

"Yagami-san. Light-kun is not feeling well again. I am going to take him up to rest now, if that is ok." L directed this to the boy's father, though it wasn't really a question.

"Of course, of course…Uh, Light, are you alright?"

"Yes, father, I should be fine. Just light-headed. I'll be better once I've rested some more."

His father nodded, a worried look on his usually stern face. Light thought he could vaguely hear Matsuda giggling behind him, but under the circumstances he was unable to figure out why. That and he didn't really care.

"I'll see you later, then."

With that, L led the boy out of the room heading automatically to the stairs, as both always preferred the walk to using the elevator normally.

"Can we take the lift? Just for today, of course," Light asked, not feeling up to the five story walk as he normally would.

"Oh. Yes." L headed back the other way to the elevator, pressing the button and walking in once the doors opened.

Light, rather hesitantly, went inside as well, leaning against the wall opposite the dark-haired detective.

In the silence that ensued, L felt like he should say something, if just to break it. He considered himself to be an incredibly patient man under normal circumstances, but in this case, he felt he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Light-kun," he blurted out, turning to Light with wide eyes.

"…Yeah?" Light looked the detective up and down quickly…for no reason, of course. Just…cause. Yeah.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What?" Light hadn't been expecting that.

"Have I done something to upset you? You have been ignoring me all day…" L looked down, suddenly oddly embarrassed.

"No! You…you didn't do anything. I just…I just felt kinda– shitty, I suppose. Sorry. It's nothing, really. Not important…"

"Oh… OK then," L was unconvinced, but decided to let it go. He could tell if anyone was lying from a mile away, even Light Yagami, but the boy was also entitled to his secrets… Well, apart from his Kira secrets, of course. But that was currently irrelevant.

…Or was it?

"Light-kun?"

The boy sighed. L sounded curious. That was never a good sign.

"Yes, Ryuzaki?"

"Does your, uh, shitty-ness have something to do with you being Kira at all? Perhaps you are getting sick because you haven't been able to kill in so long," L tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Because I have been watching you constantly, of cour–"

And then he was punched in the face. He flew back into the wall with a _thud_.

He, naturally, countered this with a kick to the gut. Or he would have, if not for a hand that stopped his leg before he could even get his knee up past waist height. He looked down to see Light's hand on his lower thigh, just above his knee, holding his leg down to stop him from being kicked.

L expected the hand to move from his leg as he was lowering it, deciding to just forget about the punch. Be the bigger man and all. Although, would that mean he'd lose…?

But either way, the boy did not remove the hand, but instead slowly, gently moved it upwards, just a little way, but it was enough to make the dark-haired man shiver slightly.

And then the doors opened with a _ping_ and the hand was quickly removed. The sound of the doors had somehow drawn Light out of the trance he'd been in when he touched the man and he exited the elevator as fast as he could, trying to pretend it hadn't happened.

L took a deep breath and followed. Nothing. It had been nothing. Not anything… Certainly nothing to get excited over. And by _excited_ he of course meant…well, aroused.

Soon they were both in their shared bedroom, Light quickly lying down with a deep sigh of satisfaction. He closed his eyes, trying his hardest to ignore the detective's presence and just fall asleep. Meanwhile, said detective took advantage of the situation and sat right beside the boy, watching him breathe in and out, a peaceful look on his face.

The raven-haired man felt as if he could look at the young man forever, but after a few minutes, he reluctantly decided to try and get _some_ work done. Getting his laptop out, he opened up the Kira case files and began work.

Ѳ

Light had been asleep for near four hours when L became fed up with the work he was doing; he was getting absolutely _nowhere_. What was the point? So, as quietly as he could, he put his laptop on the floor and slid under the covers, facing the boy, once again just looking at him, trying to memorise every tiny detail of his perfect face.

The urge to touch him just kept getting stronger though, until he couldn't take it anymore. He reached a hand out and gently stroked the boy's cheek, lovingly, a small smile forming on his lips. His hand then slowly slipped up into the chestnut coloured hair, losing himself in the moment, throwing caution to the wind.

As the detective moved his hand back down to caress his cheek again, Light's eyes fluttered open. L froze then, hand still resting on the boy's cheek. Said boy looked around with bleary eyes, which then quickly widened to something very close to the size of those of L himself. He could hear his breathing speeding up, as if the boy were scared, about to hyperventilate.

About to try and console him, L was cut off by Light himself.

"Why is it so dark…?" the brunet whispered. L removed his hand from his cheek slowly, reluctantly.

L's brows furrowed in both confusion and worry. It was almost 4pm and quite sunny outside, the sunlight streaming in through the window of their room… Certainly not 'dark'.

"So dark, so cold. So alone…" Light shivered a little.

L could see that Light was delirious again, completely lost. He was not yet hallucinating really, but L had no doubt that at least one imaginary character had yet to make an appearance.

It was only a matter of time…

When he noticed sweat shining on the young man's forehead, he decided he should intervene. At least _try_ to help him in his helpless state.

"Is Light-kun ok?" L asked. Good start.

"Wh…what…Who said that?" Light was looking directly at L, but didn't seem able to see or recognise him.

L had a devious idea.

"I am your conscience, Light-kun," he leant in and whispered in his ear, quickly putting his plan into action. He just couldn't resist. How could he pass up such a good opportunity?

"Huh?" A slight shiver ran down Light's spine.

"You've been a bad boy, Light," L chuckled softly, unable to hold it back. "You've been playing around with things that you shouldn't be, things out of your league. You are trying to control Life and Death, but they aren't meant to be controlled. Soon you will be brought to justice."

"Mmm…?" his eyebrows drew together a bit, as if confused.

"Just tell me one thing, Light-kun. Are you Kira?" Although he now knew he loved Light, and sincerely hoped he _wasn't_ Kira, all the signs had pointed to him up until a little over a month ago. And he was still L, world's greatest detective, and Light was still his prime suspect. And he was still obliged to investigate him.

"Wha…no. I– it was the snowman!" Light shot up, wide-eyed, almost whacking L in the head. "He did it! Not meeee! Please don't blame me…" he said the last part quietly, sadly.

"Whoa! Calm down, Light," L said, placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure it was the snowman… don't worry. Your name is still in the clear." _For now at least…_

Light was looking down now, seeming confused again.

"Hm, OK then," he mumbled quietly.

There was a short silence as Light lay back down and stared absently at the white ceiling. L decided to try and ask him about some things that were bothering him.

In order of importance, of course…

"So, Light-kun… how _is_ your snowman friend, anyway? Is he here?"

OK, so he was being a bit cowardly.

"No, he's not here right now. Come back later!" he giggled, then suddenly became serious, sitting up.

"Actually, he's not too happy right now. He's lonely… all alone outside in the rain… Poor Snowy," he said shaking his head sadly.

"Snowy…? Well, why don't we let him in then? He can join in if he likes." L was enjoying this much more than he should be; talking to Light's 'child-side' was just SO entertaining! Though, he _was_ worried that Light's…sanity was deteriorating. First he'd thought it was dark when it was light, and now he thought it was raining out when it was sunny… That couldn't be good.

But on to more important matters.

"Light-kun? I want to ask you some things. And I want you to answer as truthfully as you can. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Of course, Mr. Conscience!" He laughed a little to himself before sobering up and looking the raven-haired man straight in the eye – and actually seeming to see him this time.

"Yes, Ryuzaki-san." He now sounded almost like himself again…almost. L almost backed down, a little nervous that the boy was no longer delirious. But he quickly shoved his inhibitions down and opened his mouth.

"Do you like me?" The detective, of course, knew that 'like' could mean two things, but he would just let Light interpret it how he liked. Either answer would be valuable.

"Like?" the boy questioned lightly, tilting his head to the side. Then a sly and slightly seductive smile crept onto his lips, and he chuckled. "Yeah, I like you…" With that, he flung his arms around L, hugging him tightly to his chest.

Meanwhile, L himself was in shock. _He likes me…_ he thought to himself, slowly processing what was happening. Even if he meant the other way, it was a good sign.

But that smile… it hadn't been a 'Yeah, you're really great!' smile. It was more of an 'Oh, I like you alright… A _lot_…" sort of smile.

And the hug was definitely more than just a friendly one.

…Right?

Or was he just reading too much into it again? And besides… the boy _was_ delirious.

"Uh, OK then…" L hesitantly put his arms around the boy in return. "If you like me so much, then why did you ignore me all morning?"

"Huh…?" Light seemed confused once again, pulling back a bit to look in L's eyes. Then understanding dawned.

"Oh…" he looked down for a moment then raised his head again, a smirk on his lips. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He raised his eyebrows for emphasis. Or perhaps just to further aggravate L.

With a sigh, L said, "Is there anything else you would like to tell me? Anything at all." L was silently hoping he could coax something out of the delirious boy.

Light, quite cutely in the detective's opinion, looked to the ceiling as if truly pondering the question.

"Yes. No. Well, you see… I had a dream."

L furrowed his brows. That was not what he'd been expecting. "A dream, Light-kun...?"

"Yeah..."

When the younger man didn't answer, the dark-haired one spoke again.

"Well?"

Light blinked.

"Well what?" he asked, tilting his head, eyes wide, almost stupidly. Almost. Light could never truly be stupid, even reduced to what he was now. The detective was pretty sure he was just trying to annoy him. Unfortunately, it was working.

"The dream!" It was practically a shout in the quiet room.

Light chuckled.

"No need to shout, Ryuzaki-san."

L just continued staring at him, waiting. He noticed his eyelids slowly starting to droop...

And then Light collapsed.

L sighed. It was going to be a long night.

{Well there you have it! Hope you all enjoyed it and...I guess I'll try and write the next chapter soon. I think I'll start to speed things up a bit too actually. So... wait impatiently for that. And send me lots of messages telling me to hurry the hell up. It surprisingly helps. ;)

NightRoseK x }


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